Picture snapping

I absolutely love snapping pictures at my kitty. She's about four months and more mischievous that ever. She gets into these circus like situations, where M.and I can't believe she's real. M.recently said "look at us, we have so many pictures of Nina, imagine what we would do with our child."I agreed.It's actually quite ridiculous.If you take a look at my camera, every other picture is of Nina. And we have had her for about two months now?!I can't help it."Oh, look, she's standing on her two paws!Where's my camera?" "Oh, my God, she's soooooo cute, wait, I wanna get my camera."
Thank God for digital cameras. Well, you know what I mean.
So here's one example of my fascination. Just one. If I could, I would probably paint this blog with furry,orange cuteness but I realize that not everyone out there is a cat lover. Or in love with their cat as much as I am.

Flowery Manhattan

Have you noticed how one can buy flowers anywhere in Manhattan? All kinds, all sizes, all the colors, various combinations...and it won't cost you much of time nor money. They're in front of these small, all-in-one stores, usually run by Asians. At least the ones I've been to.I actually prefer bigger stores, not because bigger is better--sooo not true--but because they have more choices and look cleaner and nicer. I like to buy food at a nice place, so kill me. Superficial?I don't think so, not when it comes to food, or health, or clothes...Well, maybe, a bit.
Anyway,back to the flowers. My humble opinion is that guys in Manhattan screw up more often than guys any place else. That's why they can just pick up these beautiful, ready-to-go bouquets anywhere on a street, in a matter of seconds, and it won't cost them much.I bet the apology hurts much more;-)
I wonder, though, if it works?
Any thoughts?

Telephonic interview

I had my first telephone job interview today. At first, I didn't understand why she wanted to do a telephone interview, instead of a face-to-face one.It was an interview for a media company, where appearance counts for at least as much as the experience. But you take what you can get. I do believe I'm much more charming in person than over the phone;-)She just must be way to busy.
It went well, I think? I made her laugh. I mentioned a fresh D.C. sex scandal...She did quiz me on current events.
I said I have no salary requirements. And I don't. I have no idea what they pay people who want to do what I want to do here.
I talked about me, but not too much...Maybe I should have?
She told me she'll get back to me-as soon as they invent the position I'm looking for. A Martian from Eastern Europe?
She asked me if I'm willing to move?I just moved!
She was very nice, forthcoming and helpful. I will send her a "thank you" card.
Anyway, this was a BIG DEAL.Have I mentioned that it's an enormously successful company? And if I can get my "foot in the door,"that, by itself, would be a success.
Keep your fingers crossed!

American service

I've spent half of my day waiting for a cable company. We got our cable a little over 3 weeks ago,and this Saturday, it didn't want to play with us anymore. So we call the company. They can't send anyone until Tuesday. We are so not happy. Not that we can't live without TV, but we actually like to use what we pay for. So the technician was supposed to show up between 8a.m. and 12p.m. The first call:"Ma'am, he will come close to 12o'clock." "O.k.,"I say, and get on with my life. The second call:"We're apologizing but he will come closer to 1o'clock, Ma'am."At this point,I'm amazed with my patience."O.K.,"I say and get on with my life.
The third call:"Your building does not allow contractors, only our own technician so this appointment has to be a whole day thing."?!If Martians would come down and hear this, they would think that the cable guys are paying ME for a service. Then, well, I had to put my foot down. "There is no way I'm going to be at home from 8 a.m.to 7 p.m." She rescheduled for tomorrow. Deja vu?
Another story. An Internet company. We have Internet on and off. Basically, it's an Internet with a character, that's probably why it's expensive.I call the provider. The recorded message:"Thank you for calling us. You can also find the information you need at WWW...." Well, thank you very much for that. I swear, they must be mocking me and laughing out loud?
It's ridiculous!These companies are making a fortune our of people like me and their service is really undermining my intelligence. So why do I put up with them?
1)I don't really know another cable provider,and it's kind of boring to do the installation all over again.
2)I really cannot live without Internet. The first thing I do in the morning is have my coffee over my e-mails and job search.
3)When I call to cancel 'cause I'm fed up, they offer all these free months and discount and persuade me that I'm the only one in this city who have this problem with their service.It must be me then? Maybe their Internet works only with U.S.citizens?Anyway, they give me the free month of no-service and put on line to troubleshoot. The Internet comes back. I'm calmed. It disappears again...
In the world of these services providers, the rule of the premium pricing just doesn't apply. The more you play, the more they laugh at you.

Dutch from Bosnia in an Italian cafe in New York

I've bumped into my old Dutch friend B. around the Union Square today. It was one of those movie moments. We met in Turkey seven years ago, I've visited her in Utrecht six years ago, she visited me in Nis and Belgrade several times until three years ago when she came to my wedding!

She's this full of life, adventures, young woman, who has a successful career in a NGO in Bosnia. She loves the Balkans which makes me love her even more. She left her rich, secure motherland to live in a small city, in a country still recovering from wars, and work for Bosniaks' human rights. Very impressive, wouldn't you agree? How many people like that do you know?

Anyway, I didn't really just bump into her today. I knew she was in N.Y.C. She came to visit her friends. We were supposed to meet not far from where we actually did. But it was still a golden moment.

We had one of Cafe Reggio's cappuccinos. They're supposed to be the best in the city. Last time they were, this time they weren't. It all comes down to Barista.

But it was still fun catching up with B., finding out how well she's done for herself and all by herself, and about her plans to leave her financial security for another adventure in Africa or South America, in a year or two.

She's still single and enjoying it. "Good for you," I said. "You should enjoy it! Marriage is difficult no matter how much you love the other person." She nodded.

She doesn't want to settle for anything else than true love. I nodded. She doesn't understand why some people do. Me neither.

Her Bosnian was sparkling! I was stunned! I used to teach Serbian (it's the same language, btw). I know how rare it is for a Westerner to speak such good Slavic language. She was, no doubt, fluent at it's best-she even spoke with just a tiny, cute, Bosnian accent. Very genuine.

So, after our cappuccinos, we checked out DSW, walked to an Internet cafe and all the way to my home. She continued her little New York adventure alone after that, since my legs were not up for any, any more.

Great to see you B. Keep up the good work!

Stardust and Fracture

We had such luck with movies last two nights.
Yesterday, we saw a great thriller with A. Hopkins, called "The Fracture." Great acting, as you can imagine, and a very interesting twist. We found it intriguing, amusing and original. Definitely thumbs up!
And tonight! Tonight we've really enjoyed the "Stardust."It is much, much fresher and imaginative than I expected. I've been wanting to see it even before it came out, for the cast I like. But this fairy tale is original, romantic, seductive, funny and charming. And this comes from someone who watches a lot of movies. Even M. admitted the Stardust was very good. So, it's not a chick flick. It's not a typical fairy tale in any way. And the acting is almost impeccable. For example, I've never seen De Niro in a role like this before...
Let me tell you, this movie made my day brighter. And from our fellow viewers reactions-theirs too!I highly recommend it!

Ruder and Nicer

I know Yoga is good for me. God knows I can use some mind calming. And some exercise. But the way I remember D.C. Yoga is- slow, a lot of breathing and not that difficult. Maybe I was just not doing it right.
Our N.Y.C. Yoga teacher, J. is great! But my whole body hurts now. And not in a good way, you know, like when you do a lot of abs and then your belly is soar the day after. I like that pain. Makes me feel I did something right. And I know I'll be soar from this Yoga everywhere tomorrow. But I'm not exactly sure if my joints, my knees and my bones should hurt as well. Any Yoga experts out there, reading this???
Anyway, I'm still glad I did it. The class was pretty intense. As everything else in N.Y.C.
So, neither M. nor I are big nappers but we had to take a short one after this Yoga class. We had to rest our out-of-shape, non-flexible, broken bodies.
But J. is great, really. She's funny and helpful, and genuinely kind. That's another difference between N.Y. and D.C. There, your Yoga instructor doesn't care as much if you're doing it right or not. That's probably why it was more pleasant to do.
Retailers too seem nicer here, but people in general do not like to say "excuse me" or, God forbid, "I'm sorry" if they step on your foot or hit you with the purse passing at always crowded crosswalks in Midtown. No one cares, really. But in the stores, or in this case, our Yoga and Pilates teachers are very, very nice humans.
Curious, right? Why is that? Is it b/c everything is more expensive here, so, they charge more-they give more? But some of the stores are identical...
As for the rude bystanders and fellow walkers-I just think that New Yorkers don't have time for "I'm sorries."They are always in a hurry. For God' sake, there are so many things to do in this city, why waste your time on a "pardon" to a person you will probably never hit again in your life;-)